Eugène Samuel Grasset was born on May 25, 1841, in Lausanne. After an unsuccessful course of study in architecture at the polytechnical school in Zurich, Grasset traveled to Marseille and Egypt in 1865 and 1866 and then turned to decorative sculpture on his return to Zurich in 1867. Grasset went to Paris in 1871, where he achieved recognition as the illustrator of the stories "Le Petit Nab" (1877) and "Histoire de quatre fils Aymon" (1883). After this, Grasset was active in all areas of the applied arts; he not only continued his work as an illustrator but also worked on furniture designs, book illustrations, and posters. He designed the facade of the Hôtel de Dumas in Paris, the mosaics in Saint Etienne in Braire, the stained glass windows in the cathedral at Orléans, carpet patterns, decorative iron, jewelry, calenders, postage stamps, and much more. Grasset's illustrations are influenced mostly by Gustave Doré while his commercial artworks are modeled on the works of Viollet-le-Duc. He exhibited in the Salon des Cent in 1897 and in the Salon des Artistes décorateurs im Pavillon de Marsan in 1906. In his versatility and the trends in his works, Grasset can be compared to the English reformer Walter Crane, though his works never found the same resonance. Grasset died on October 23, 1917, in Sceaux.